Galindez writes: "'Bernie Sanders is a positive force in the Democratic Party,' Nancy Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol. 'He has awakened in some people an interest in the political process that wasn't there. He has encouraged young people to channel their interest in public service and community leadership into a political place, because this is where decisions are made that'll affect their future and their lives. And I think that's positive.'"
Presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont talks to supporters during a rally at the University of Washington, in Seattle. (photo: Joshua Trujillo/Seattlepi.com)
Why Bernie Is Helping, Not Hurting the Democrats
21 May 16
ernie Sanders is a positive force in the Democratic Party,” Nancy Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol.
“He has awakened in some people an interest in the political process that wasn’t there. He has encouraged young people to channel their interest in public service and community leadership into a political place, because this is where decisions are made that’ll affect their future and their lives. And I think that’s positive.”
Nancy Pelosi gets it. Many Democrats also understand what Bernie brings to the table. Some, however, feel threatened. Bernie Sanders is taking the party in a direction the corporatists and “third way” Democrats don’t want to go. You see, they think they know better. They think they should be the ones deciding our future, and the people just need to follow their lead. Those days are coming to an end, and the 1% is scared that the people are ready to take their country back.
Bernie Sanders is right, the Democratic Party has a choice: open the doors and let the people in or continue to represent the billionaire class. Progressive Democrats understand that the political revolution has come too far to just surrender. The Democratic Party has to earn their support. By taking the fight to the convention, Bernie is keeping the movement going. The movement is not ready to support Hillary Clinton in November.
Election day is still 6 months away. There is plenty time for the Democratic Party to make the Sanders supporters welcome. If Bernie suspended his campaign tomorrow and just went back to work in the Senate it would be like bursting a bubble. The movement he has launched would be devastated. That movement needs to continue, and if the Democrats embrace it they will grow. If they continue to ask for surrender, they will lose an opportunity to build the party.
Of course letting the movement in will change the party. That is what the “new” Democrats fear. The end of the third way is near, and the Democratic Party will soon be representing working people again.
It’s not about Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton; it is about representing the people or representing the corporate elite. Show us in Philadelphia that we are welcome by accepting real reform in the party. If the convention in Philadelphia is organized to be an infomercial for Hillary Clinton and the Sanders delegates are silenced, that will hurt the party. If we are welcomed and the process is fair, allowing us to put our stamp on the party’s future, we will help grow the party. If we are ignored the Democratic Party will continue to shrink, and many Sanders supporters will go back to being Green or Independent.
It is those voters who allow Sanders to poll better against Trump than Hillary. Bernie can help bring Independents into the fold, if the party is ready for change. Bernie’s supporters are not ready now to jump to Hillary. Bernie holds them together, so he needs to keep the movement alive. If he doesn’t, the Democratic Party will squander a golden opportunity to expand.
While the benefit to the party is clear, it would also be a mistake for Sanders to drop out before every vote is cast. You have to remember that Hillary Clinton thought she could convince the superdelegates in 2008.
In May of 2008, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is currently the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s campaign against Barack Obama. Even though the campaign was down on delegates, Wasserman Schultz actually said superdelegates should side with Clinton anyway, since she was the stronger candidate come the general election.
She said: “Senator Clinton won last night. She will win next Tuesday. She will win in Puerto Rico. And the case needs to be made to the superdelegates – who, Governor, at the end of the day, that’s who’s going to decide this – that Hillary Clinton is the strongest potential nominee in the fall, and that’s what we’re going to – the case we’re going to continue to make.”
Hmm, eight years later, when Bernie Sanders says the same thing, he is hurting the party?
There is plenty of time between July and November for Bernie to play a unifying role. For now, the best thing for Democrats is for Bernie to continue to build the movement.
Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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